Gluten-Free Raspberry Cheesecake

Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa and chef fabulosa, I’d like you to meet Elizabeth Barbone, the Easy Gluten-Free Baking guru. I’ve smashed up your recipes and come up with one seriously kick-ass cheesecake! Based on how great this combo is, I really think the two of you should work together more often. You will definitely be doing so in my kitchen.

Now, I know cheesecake can easily be gluten-free and peanut/nut-free. It doesn’t necessarily require a crust but I like a buttery, crumbly, graham cracker crust. Elizabeth Barbone’s gluten-free Honey Maid graham cracker recipe fit the bill and was the absolute perfect contrast to the lemon zest in Ina Garten’s Raspberry Cheesecake recipe that takes it over the edge for me. There are some pretty specific steps to this recipe. You should follow them precisely. Sometimes good things take a little bit more work. I’m ok with that, on occasion. If you don’t have the time to make your own graham cracker crumbs, you can use a box of Smoreables instead. Bring this cheesecake to a nice dinner party or serve for dessert after your own sometime.

I’ve modified both recipes slightly. I generally use a 7″ springform pan instead of a 9″ and reduce most of the ingredients accordingly. The original is probably a bit thicker but I am happy with the way mine turns out in terms of crust, cake and topping ratios. I use raspberry jam, even though the Contessa says not to (that’s just what I had the 1st time I made the recipe and it still tasted amazing so I’m sticking to it). I use less raspberries and I don’t cook them with the jam. I just wash them and place them on top of the cheesecake. I like the contrast of the fresh berries with the creaminess of the cake. I add slightly less butter to the graham cracker crumbs while making the crust, mainly because I’ve added a good amount in the recipe while making them from scratch and don’t want to go crazy. In addition, I’ve been known to occasionally sub mixed berries in for the raspberries and that has worked pretty well too. Without any further ado…here is the recipe. I hope you enjoy it!

A deliciously creamy and zesty cheesecake with fresh berries on top and a buttery, crumbly gluten free homemade graham cracker crust. It cooks for about 1½ hours but you need to cool it overnight so I added 12 hours to the cooking time.

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crumbs (this recipe will yield more than you need for the cheesecake crust but it is great to save the remainder in a ziploc bag or airtight container for future use):

1½ C brown rice flour (I use Arrowhead Mills)

½ C cornstarch

⅓ C packed dark brown sugar

1 t baking powder

½ t salt

5 T cold butter

6 T milk

3 T honey

Graham Cracker Crust:

1 C graham cracker crumbs

1 T sugar

3 T butter, melted

Cheesecake Filling:

1½ lbs (3 8oz pkgs) of cream cheese, at room temperature

1 C sugar

3 whole large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

⅛ C sour cream

Zest of 1 lemon

1 t vanilla extract

Raspberry Topping:

¾ cup raspberry jam

1 pint fresh raspberries or assorted fresh berries

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Graham Cracker Crumbs:

Place dry ingredients in food processor and pulse to combine

Add the butter and pulse until coarse (no large pieces should remain)

Add milk and honey

Pulse until dough forms

Lay out a piece of parchment paper (12x16) and dust with rice flour

Roll dough out until it covers paper (about ⅛" thick), continuing to brush rolling pin and dough with rice flour, as needed

Place parchment paper with dough on baking pan and bake for about 15 minutes, until evenly brown

Remove, cool and place in ziploc and roll over with rolling pin until crumbled

Graham Cracker Crust:

Combine sugar, graham crackers and melted butter until moistened

Place in springform pan and press into the bottom and up the sides

Bake for 8 minutes and cool to room temperature

Cheesecake Filling:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Cream the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer, with paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes

Reduce speed to medium and add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well

Scrape bowl and beater, as necessary

Reduce speed to low and add sour cream, lemon zest and vanilla

Mix thoroughly and pour onto cooled crust

Bake for 10 minutes

Lower oven temperature to 225 degrees and bake for another 45 minutes

Turn the oven off and open the door wide

Allow cake to sit in the oven with the door open for 20 minutes

Take out of the oven and allow to sit at room temperature for another 2 hours or so, until completely cooled

Wrap and refrigerate overnight

Remove the cake from the springform pan by carefully running a hot knife around the outside of the cake. Leave the cake on the bottom of the springform pan for serving.

Raspberry Topping: melt the jam in a small pan over low heat.

Allow to cool to room temperature and spread over the top of the cheesecake

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I have always loved food. Loved to cook. Loved to talk about food, think about food, read about food. You get the gist. Food + Me = Love! Recently, my relationship with food was challenged. My love turned to fear.Read My Story